


may the stars look upon you

by lunariaans



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Angst, Character Death, F/M, Minor Character Death, Nohr | Conquest Route, idk how to tag this im so sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-02
Updated: 2016-06-02
Packaged: 2018-07-11 18:12:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7064716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunariaans/pseuds/lunariaans
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She takes a step so that she is directly besides him, the close proximity making his heart pound even harder. She looks back across the valley, the darkness that is Nohr.<br/>"Tsubaki," she says with a very unlike her and quiet voice. "I've always known that if I were to die, it'd be protecting Sakura."<br/>She looks up at him, her brown eyes meeting his dark ones.<br/>"I'm not sure I want to die anymore."</p>
            </blockquote>





	may the stars look upon you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [irisreceptor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/irisreceptor/gifts).



> I decided to write this after mulling it over for awhile and I finally decided to do it. Because I hate myself. And everyone needs some sadness.  
> A few things to note: I could not for the life of me remember every detail of Sakura aka Chapter 20 (?) of Conquest, so I winged it and made it my own in certain parts (most parts).  
> Also, I am very inconsistent on which names I use for certain characters. Basically, if I like the Japanese name better than the localization, I'll use that one instead and vice versa.  
> Also this is a gift for irisreceptor for putting me down as the inspiration for their Kazahana/Tsubaki fic which I am EXCITED to read more of.

The battle that is to happen at Fort Jinya will most likely be their last. He has to accept that he could very well die today.

He, along with his liege and fellow retainer, stand near the mouth of the old fort, looking out across the valley that faces the dark clouds that are Nohr. There is a thick tension that hangs in the air; no one wants to say anything for fear that it might be their last.

Yukimura, an old advisor to the royal family, quietly drones on about the course of actions they need to take today. His words all pass in a blur though, he can barely wrap his head around what he's supposed to do, who he's supposed to lead, and instead he keeps his eyes trained on the darkness that looms in the distance. Not even the barely waking sun could dispel such an obscure color as that.

Yukimura suddenly stops, and all three look back at him.

"Are any of you paying attention?"

He shares a glance with the short samurai beside him.

"Yes," they all say, and he notices the dread that hangs onto their voices, desperately asking them to stop, to give up on this war and run far, far away.

He has a duty to fill though, an obligation.

The old mechanist lets out a tired sigh, one that is filled with defeat, though the battle hasn't even begun. His old and weary face is filled with more wrinkles and worry lines now than ever before; the stress of being a strategist, someone whose decisions can decide an entire war, obviously took their toll on him. He doesn't think he's had many peaceful nights.

"I'll leave you all to it then," he says, pushing up the glasses that hang on the bridge of his smushed nose. "Lady Sakura, when you are finished here, please follow me back to the entrance so we can secure you."

 _When you're finished saying your goodbyes_ , he thinks bitterly, but he knows it is true. 

"May the stars look upon you."

It's an old Hoshidan saying, one the wives of warriors would say to their husbands before they went off to battle. One that was often the last thing they ever said to them.

The cherry blossom princess nods, giving the old man a solemn smile, and he turns away, walking back to where he alone will be the sole defender.

He takes in the appearance of his young liege, how youthful and innocent she looks, how she shouldn't be in this war. She quietly stares down at the ground, or maybe the new yumi she holds in her hands. It looks much too big for her small form, but she had insisted on learning how to use it, how to fight, so that she may defend her home country too.

She wears a new dress, that of a priestess, and he thinks she looks exceptionally lovely in it; the alabaster fabric of it contrasting nicely with her delicately pink hair.

It's lovely, but it will soon be colored with blood.

He has a startling image of the young princess covered in it, her eyes wide and her breath lost; he shivers at the thought and quickly shakes it from his head.

"This is it," she finally speaks up, rocking on her toes and giving a nervous laugh. "I'll admit I'm a little scared."

He looks down at her, opens his mouth to speak words of encouragement, but he is beat to it.

"Don't worry, Sakura," the small samurai pipes up from the other side of her. "We're here to protect you. Nothing's gonna get past us."

The princess looks at her best friend, someone she's known and loved for a long time, and he hears the tremble in her voice as she reaches out to grab the other girl's hand.

"I know you'll do your best, Hana," and he knows there are tears just waiting to fall.

Hana gives her a smile, one of false confidence, and the princess quickly drops her yumi and pulls the girl into her arms, squeezing her tightly. Sakura's back is to him but Hana's is not, and he sees the way her face twists with guilt, with pain and remorse; he sees the way her fingers dig in to the fabric of her dress and he sees the way she shuts her eyes tight, because she knows this may very well be the end but she would have it no other way.

She would gladly die protecting her best friend.

The princess pulls away and swiftly wipes at her eyes, and then she turns to face him. He stands still as she looks up at him through tear stained lashes.

"And I can trust that you will do the same, Tsubaki?"

He grins and bows, a deep and dramatic bow, and it earns him a giggle from the princess and a groan from the samurai, but it breaks some of that tension.

"I would have it no other way, my lady."

He stands straight from his bow, but no sooner than when he reaches full height is he tackled with an almost bone crushing hug. She wraps her arms tightly around his abdomen and he is taken aback at the show of affection; never has she before given him such an endearing act. He carefully, hesitantly, wraps his arms around her too, reciprocating the action.

He looks down at her and all he sees is the best liege he could've ever of had the pleasure of working for. He loves her like a sister, he loves her very much, and when he looks down at this delicate thing, this slip of a girl in his arms, all he can feel is endearment and adoration. He brings a hand up to her soft hair, and gently pats it; even if these are his final moments, he is glad he got to spend them with these two.

It was a perfect outcome from the cards he was dealt.

She pulls away and wipes at her eyes again, quietly picking up her fallen yumi. She holds it carefully in her hands and takes a step away from them, like she is afraid that if she is near them any longer, she may have to forfeit the fight. She is unable to meet their eyes, and he doesn't blame her, he is scared of what will happen too.

"I love you both very much," she says, and he knows, he knows it with every fiber of his being. "I just want you both to know that."

"We love you too," Hana replies, and he swiftly looks over at her as he hears the crack in her voice.

Sakura nods and then lets out a half laugh, half cry. He will miss her very much.

"May the stars look upon you," she says, and he sees the way she white knuckles that frail yumi in her hands.

"May the stars look upon you," they repeat, and with that, she turns and hurries off to find Yukimura.

The battle that is to happen at Fort Jinya will most likely be a deciding factor in who wins this war. And they were key players.

It is then just the two of them, and he feels his heart pound.

She is beautiful even in the face of war. He doesn't think she should be in this war either, none of them should, but a choice was made and as with all choices, it has consequences.

A hand rests on the hilt of her sword tucked away by her side. Her eyebrows are furrowed together and a frown crosses her face and he wants to take her hand and run away from here. None of them deserved this.

"So this is the end," she speaks up, and he feels his heart stabbed with conviction.

"Don't be so negative," he tries to say with his usually suave voice, but instead it comes out as dry and desperate. He winces at the weakness. "Surely we'll be the winners here."

She takes a step so that she is directly besides him, the close proximity making his heart pound even harder. She looks back across the valley, the darkness that is Nohr.

"Tsubaki," she says with a very unlike her and quiet voice. "I've always known that if I were to die, it'd be protecting Sakura."

She looks up at him, her brown eyes meeting his dark ones.

"I'm not sure I want to die anymore."

He feels his cool demeanor falter and he feels the way his face twitches with a sadness that is surely now showing; he can tell by the way she bites her lip and averts her eyes when he does.

"I don't think anyone really wants to die, not like this," he says, and he so desperately wants to reach out, he wants to touch her and ease her worries.

He knows he cannot though.

She looks down at his hand and swiftly grabs it; her hands are warm against his and he holds back a shiver as she traces her thumbs over the palm. He doesn't know what she's doing, but it's making his heart race.

Her voice is so shaky and so unlike her, he's not even sure if this is the girl he's known for such a long time, if this is the girl that always teased him and was annoyed with him. He's not sure if this is the girl he harbors very secret feelings for.

"Tsubaki," she says again, and he feels shocked when he hears the name fall from her lips. She sounds like she is about to cry, and that was something she _refused_ to do.

She brings his hand up to the side of her face and pushes her cheek into his palm, desperate for the comfort of another human being. She grasps at his hand, her cheek is soft beneath it, and she holds onto it with such grave emotions. She places one of her own on top of his, the other grabs his wrist, and all he can do is stare at her with wide eyes and a pain in his heart.

"I don't want to die."

He wants to spill everything right there, tell her everything that he feels so she doesn't have to go into this feeling alone. He wants to express his deep feelings for her, yell them out across the valley and then kiss her to seal the deal.

He wants to say so much, but there are some things better left unsaid.

He is unable to say anything as she quickly releases his hand from her face; it falls limply to his side. She turns back to face the valley once again, this time with a scowl on her face. He feels regret at not having done anything sooner.

She takes a deep breath and soon her voice is back to its normal, irritated tone. She crosses her arms across her chest and he just feels so downtrodden and depressed when he gazes at her now, when she takes on the stance of a warrior and her face hardens like stone.

"It's time we take our places; I'll be on the northern side."

"And I the southern," he says, finally finding his words once again.

She bites her bottom lip, hard, and he sees the way that she looks out into the darkness, out into the abyss, and he knows that she is now ready to face death.

He's not sure if he is though. Not with everything that he's feeling right now.

"We won't see each other on the battlefield, but I know you'll fight until the end," she says as she turns to walk back towards her own section where she will lead her own group of warriors.

"You can count on me to deliver a _perfect_ performance," he promises, and she looks back over her shoulder and gives him a smile, using whatever bit of hope she has left in it. 

"May the stars look upon you," she says and he feels like breaking down, like giving up and quitting right there, and taking her with him. He doesn't want those to be the last words he ever hears come from those sweet lips of hers.

No, he decides, those will not be the last words he ever hears from her. He refuses to believe it; he'll fight his hardest, his damnedest, to see her again after this battle. He has to. 

"May the stars look upon you," he says back, and just like that she turns from him completely, and he watches as the back of her beautifully brunette head turns the corner of one of the fort's walls and disappears.

He _will_ see her again; they _will_ win this battle, for the glory of Hoshido, for his beloved Lady Sakura. He will see her again and then, when everything is done and over and they are celebrating with their comrades and compatriots, in the heat of the moment he will tell her everything he did not say today. He'll tell her everything he needs to and things will be okay.

The battle that is to happen at Fort Jinya will most likely be their last, but he has decided it will also be the end of this war.

He takes a deep breath and looks out into the distance, over the Hoshidan valley and into the Nohrian darkness and he readies himself. He turns, and heads to his assigned position where he will make his final stand, and he listens as he hears the pounding feet of the Nohrian army, those Nohrian _beasts_. 

_May the stars look upon us._

 

* * *

 

 

He is shot down from his Pegasus by one of those filthy Nohrian archers, a man with an eyepatch, and he starts to understand why many of those angry Hoshidans loathe the Nohrians so.

He falls from a great height but he knows how to land without any real damage being done; the first thing a sky knight learned how to do was fall.

He is only decommissioned from the battle because of where he is struck. Many of his units have already been defeated, he feels such guilt because of it, but they are all kept alive for some odd reason. He has heard that Nohrians are vicious killers, not a single merciful bone in their bodies, but none of the Hoshidans here have been killed.

He lands on the ground with a thud, he groans as the pain in his shoulder is inflamed; he raises a hand to it, only to pull it back and see that it is colored with deep red.

He wraps his hand around the arrow imbedded in his shoulder, and is ready to rip it out, until he feels a dirty boot placed on his wrist.

He looks up and sees that damn Nohrian with the eyepatch and a sadistic smile, a bow poised in his hands, an arrow notched and ready to fire.

He's never faced down death like this before, but he knows when to accept defeat. He closes his eyes and waits for it to come.

But it never does and he hears a voice instead.

"Don't shoot, Niles," one voice says. He opens his eyes to see a blonde man on a horse, a tome in his hands. He is a menacing sight in all of his black armor. His horse looks like that of a reaper's, and he doesn't think that he is that far off.

"Kamui wants all of them alive. Kill no one," the blonde man reminds him, and the one stepping on him looks back over his shoulder.

"Yes, milord, but what shall we do with him? He seems to be of a higher rank than the rest."

"Bind him and bring him back to the front with the rest of them," the man on the horse commands, moving along towards where Yukimura and Lady Sakura wait.

"No killing or torture, just bring him back," he says again, and the eyepatch man twists his heel deep into the wound on his shoulder, earning him a cry of pain.

"Not even a _little_ bit of torturing?" The archer pouts.

" _Niles_ ," the blonde man warns, and the heel is pulled back.

"Yes, milord," he says, and he looks up at the tanned man with contrasting hair as he hears the hooves of the horse clop away.

He steps off of him and instead pulls him up to his knees, kicking his back over so he is forced to catch himself on his hands. Pain shoots through his arm.

His head is pulled back by his ponytail as the man, Niles was his name, roughly grabs his wrists and ties them behind his back with rope. He still has a grip on his ponytail as he hoists up to his feet, as he pushes him forward towards where all three of them had been only hours before.

"Sorry about the arrow," he hears Niles purr behind him, though the tone of his voice displays enjoyment rather than remorse. "Let me help you with that."

He firmly grasps it, and then much to his chagrin, twists it in its new home, searing pain seething through his tissue. He breaks it in half and throws it to the ground, most of it still in his shoulder.

He hisses through gritted teeth. He was starting to dislike Nohrians more and more.

"You're a little rough, don't you think?" He asks through labored breaths and the man behind him just laughs lowly in his ear.

"I like it rough, don't you?" He replies, and he is suddenly all the more disgusted by this man. He is thankful that Hana didn't have to deal with him.

_Hana._

He suddenly remembers the small samurai and he stumbles a bit on the loose dirt. Niles pushes him.

Hana. How was she? Did she make it out okay? Was she still fighting? Did she suffer the same fate as him?

His mind is racing and all thoughts are now suddenly consumed by her when he hears a cheer go up from behind them. He stops and turns his head, looking back at the fort, and he knows what that means.

They had been defeated.

He feels like an idiot as he suddenly starts struggling against his bonds, trying to thrash about and knock the man behind him as far away as possible, but the archer holds a firm grip on him.

"The more you struggle, the more that wound will hurt later," Niles laughs, and he is pushed until they reach the entrance where the entire Nohrian royal family is waiting along with its army. He is thrown in front of them, like meat in front of wild dogs, and he hits the dirt beneath their feet face first. He's never felt so low in his life.

Niles disappears and runs off back the way he came, probably to take more prisoners, and a new unnamed guard takes his place, pulling him back up to his knees.

He looks around and sees all the bloodied Hoshidans, how awful they look, and he's starting to hate those from Nohr.

"Where's Lady-" he begins to speak, but a tall and pale man with greasy black hair steps forward and holds up a hand. He is sufficiently silenced.

"No need to speak, Hoshidan," the greasy man says, an evil smile on his ugly face. "You're princess will be just fine."

Not a moment later does he hear horse hooves again, beating rhythmically against the soft ground.  He turns his head to see that blonde man and Niles, along with many other Nohrian soldiers, all with blood on their armor and smiles on their faces. Many of them hold Hoshidans in front of them, and once they make it to the entrance they too throw them to ground, like old rag dolls that no one wants to play with anymore.

And then he sees the Helen of Troy herself, the princess who started this war.

Lady Kamui.

She is the only one who looks remorseful, who looks like she did not just win an important battle. She looks like she can no longer walk with the weight of the world on her shoulders.

And out from behind her comes Lady Sakura, dried tear tracks and messy hair and of course, that once alabaster dress now covered in blood.

He breathes a sigh of relief but he is soon worried again as he searches desperately for Hana, but he doesn't have to worry long as he soon sees her struggling as she too is pushed into the fray of wounded Hoshidans. She starts yelling and wriggling around, but the soldier behind her holds on to her tightly. She stops moving when she spots him and he has to look away. He feels like he's disappointed both her and Lady Sakura.

She is then able to wiggle her way out of the hold of her captor, and she quickly runs to close the distance between him and her. She only gets halfway to him though when the soldier catches up and grabs a thick handful of her hair, yanking it back towards him. She falls on her bottom with a yelp.

"Stop!" Lady Sakura cries out, and before she can run too, Lady Kamui wraps a small hand around her upper arm. "Don't hurt them, please!"

"Bring her over here," the greasy man points to Hana, who is now glaring at the man that pulls her to her feet. He pushes her along and then shoves her down to her knees, right next to him. She spits at the man's feet and it earns her a hard slap across the face.

"Stop it!" Sakura cries out again, trying to rip herself from Kamui's grasp.

She hangs her head low, her long and tangled hair covering the sides of her face. She's humiliated.

"I'm sorry," he whispers to her, so much anger and sadness in his voice, but she just shakes her head.

"We knew it would end like this."

Kamui finally brings Sakura to kneel next to him on the other side. He also apologizes to her, though he can't look at that sweet and innocent face.

"We all tried our best," she assures him, but her attention is soon diverted as Yukimura is also pulled out from the fort. The old man looks badly beaten, his face black and blue and bloodied and his glasses nowhere to be seen. He is placed on the other side of Lady Sakura and the rest of the Nohrian army closes in.

"My, my," the greasy man says, toying with the edges of a thick tome in his hands. "What a sweet victory."

"There's no need to revel in it, Iago," Lady Kamui speaks up, a now stern look on her face as the army looks to her. He thinks she is pretty, the brightest white hair and startling red eyes adorn her pale and porcelain features. He thinks she looks more like a doll than a commander leading the troops of the most vicious army on the planet. "Let's just take our prisoners and go."

She turns to walk away, to lead them all out, but Iago laughs lowly and the princess stops to stare at him.

"Ah, ah, princess," he raises a spindly finger. "Our prisons won't have enough room if we keep all of them. We have direct orders from the king."

She turns to fully face him and glares. "And what would those orders be?"

Iago smiles, an evil and cruel smile, and then points at all of the Hoshidans across from them.

"Kill them all."

The soldiers don't have to be told twice and soon he watches in horror as already half dead soldiers lying on the ground are killed; Yukimura is one of them. Throats are slashed and abdomens are stabbed and he feels sick at the sight and has to close his eyes as he awaits his turn.

Sakura lets out a heart wrenching scream from next to him and he is startled; he's never heard a noise like that. She starts crying, sobbing, and she starts screaming at them to stop.

"Stop! Stop it!" She sobs, unable to do anything. "Please, stop this!"

She looks up at her supposed big sister, but he's not sure how she could ever call that monster before her family.

"Big Sister, please, stop this!"

Kamui turns towards Iago and marches straight up to him. He thinks she's going to slap him.

"Iago, this is enough! I'm commanding officer here and I _command_ you to stop this."

Iago laughs again, that ugly and diseased laugh. "Yes, maybe you are, but orders from the king are orders from the king. To not follow them would be treason; are you a traitor, princess?"

It is then that one her Nohrian siblings steps up; a big and handsome blonde man, one that looks like the other from earlier, pushes through the crowd.

"Iago," he says, with a firm and demanding voice. "I don't care what father has said, as crown prince of Nohr, I demand that you stop."

"Oh, but don't you see?" He says, waving a hand out over a now bloody sea of bodies. "They're all already dead. Are you a traitor too, helping out your _little princess_?"

"You know I've only shown the utmost loyalty to Nohr," Kamui says, an unknown anger flashing against her eyes.

He's distracted from the confrontation when the soldier behind him grabs his ponytail and pulls it back hard, holding something sharp and cool to his throat. He holds his breath and waits.

"What about these two?" The soldier asks, and he risks moving his eyes over to see Hana in the same position. She gives him a weak smile.

"Look at this one's hair," the soldier laughs, tugging on it harder. "He looks like a girl with such long hair. Maybe we should give it a cut."

"Don't hurt them!" Sakura screams again, and it's heart breaking to hear such distress. "Please! We've already surrendered just please don't hurt anyone else."

Iago sighs. "I guess we can leave the princess and her little friends alive. Hurry and take them before I change my mind."

They are then started to be lifted to their feet when the small samurai besides him speaks up.

"Wait," she says, and Iago turns back with a _hm_?

"I would like to regain my honor."

He feels his eyes widen at the realization of what is being asked.

"Hana, no!" Sakura cries, and he stares at the samurai with such disbelief. What about what she said earlier, about not wanting to die?

"What?" Iago asks in a half laugh.

Before she can open her mouth again, that blonde man with the tome from early speaks up instead.

"She's a samurai," he begins, clutching to the spine of that tome very tightly. "They have a certain 'code of chivalry' that's based on their honor. Being captured as a prisoner of war betrays that code."

"And?"

"She wants to kill herself to regain her honor."

A sly smile crosses Iago's face as he turns to face the girl.

He feels like throwing up, surely they won't let her. He thought she was crazy, the whole honor code for a samurai was crazy; she didn't need to do this.

"Hana," he says quietly, and she throws him a look that tells him to stay silent.

Iago shrugs. "Why not?"

"No," Kamui says firmly. "There is no need for more meaningless deaths."

"But it's not meaningless," the blonde with the tome says. "A samurai's entire life revolves around this code. Without it, they wouldn't _be_ a samurai."

"Leo," she warns, and the boy, Leo, gives her a look as if he were to challenge her.

"Please," Hana begs, bowing her head, and it is such a shameful sight. "Let me do this and then you can leave me behind."

"How does this work?" Iago asks, and he looks curiously at the girl, but she is interrupted again. 

"We are not letting her kill herself," Kamui protests, and he feels a wave of relief wash over him as she says it. For the first time, he is thankful towards the false princess.

"Sister," a new voice chimes in, one that sounds drenched in honey thick sweetness. A woman with long purple locks and a sickly sweet smile steps out from the circle of Nohrians that now all silently watch them. "If this is what she wants, can we really deny her the right?"

Kamui hesitates for a moment before she looks around at all the soldiers. "All of you head back to camp."

None of them move. 

" _Now_."

She was much more intimidating than she looked; all of them then push past and walk down the trail that leads back to the Nohrian darkness, save for Iago and the Nohrian royal family.

He notices for the first time a small girl with blonde pigtails that could be no older than Lady Sakura. She clutches to a healing rod tightly, amethyst eyes wide, and she stares up at the girl next to her.

The girl with blue hair, this one he knows, stares at them with a stoic face, no emotions to be found anywhere. Azura, she was as much of a traitor to Hoshido as Kamui was now, and it hurt to see it.

But surely nothing would hurt as much as seeing the girl beside him die in such an agonizing way.

"Elise, you too," she says, and the small girl pouts. "Don't argue, just go."

Azura looks at the small girl next to her and gently pushes her back, to which she obliges, though she drags her feet. Once she is gone, Kamui sets her startling eyes on Hana.

"What's your name?" She asks, and Hana looks up, startled.

"Kazahana," she replies, giving her formal name, something that she hated people using.

"Kazahana," Kamui repeats, and her Nohrian accent makes the name sound funny, it makes her name sound _wrong_. He doesn't like that name coming from the Nohrian's mouth.

It is silent as Kamui stares at her, deep sadness in her eyes. He doesn't like that look or what it means.

"What do you need to do for this?" She asks, and he hears Sakura let out a gasp.

"Big Sister, no," she pleads, new tears starting to form in her eyes. "Don't let her do it."

Kamui hesitates, looking back at the young priestess, but then Hana speaks up.

"Let me do this, Sakura," she says, unable to meet her liege's eye. "I _need_ to do this."

Iago lets out a sneer. "She talks to her liege with in such a casual manner? She really is shameful."

She turns her head away from him, but he knows she is biting deep into her lip.

"The code of honor is so strict that a samurai would rather die than fall into the hands of the enemy," Azura tells her. "We are disgracing her by taking her with us."

"But isn't there some other way to do that?"

"This is the only way," Azura replies, still showing no emotions. "We either let her regain her honor here, or take her with us where she will surely be shunned and exiled for her cowardice."

"But isn't _this_ an act of cowardice?"

He hears someone groan, exasperated.

"Are you going to let her do it or not?"

Kamui bites her lip, and he thinks bitterly about how much she looks like _her_ when she does it. She looks between her siblings, then back at Hana, and finally she gives her verdict.

"I will let you do this," she says quietly, and Sakura lets out another sob as he feels his own heart drop to his stomach.

"Thank you," Hana says, and Kamui motions for the guard behind her to bring her to the center of their sad circle. "I will need my sword."

"Hana, stop this," he says, finally finding his voice. His shoulder only throbs dully as he is about to witness something awful, the worst way to go.

She looks at him, distraught, and she shakes her head, casting her eyes away from him. She looks so sad, so pathetic and pitiful, and he knows he should've abandoned ship with her sooner.

"Tsubaki, you know that I have to do this. You know that this means everything to me."

The way she says his name breaks his heart. The way she holds honor over everything _breaks his heart_.

"Don't do this," Sakura begs, hiccupping between her sobs. "Hana, you don't have to do this. Your honor is still intact."

"It's not, Sakura," and he can hear her voice crack. He hates this.

" _Kazahana_ ," he pleads, his own emotions starting to bubble beneath the surface. "Don't do this to Lady Sakura."

 _Don't do this to me_ , he thinks.

He thinks he's got her with that when he sees her face flash with guilt, when he sees her hesitate and look around at the Nohrians. But her bindings are cut and she sits up the straight and proper way, and it's silent as all eyes are on her.

She blushes and he turns his gaze away as she undoes the armor on her chest, and then pulls down her pink shirt, exposing her stomach and the bindings that hold her chest. He _hates_ this. 

"My sword, please," she croaks out, and he no longer thinks that this is her.

"H-Hana," Sakura sobs, and he can't do anything but just stare helplessly at this girl.

Iago takes the sword from one of the guards and steps towards her. She politely holds out her hands. It's a sword that would normally be too long to perform this act, but with where they were and with the circumstances, it would have to do.

He looks around at the royal family and bewilderment is written plainly over all of their faces save for Leo and Azura. He wants to scream at them to stop this but instead he can only scream at her.

His and Sakura's voices seem to mix together and become a messy blur as they both start shouting at her, asking her, _begging_ her to stop.

The closer Iago gets to her, the louder their pleas become.

He holds the weapon still in the saya, and carefully, he pulls the blade out, the bright Hoshidan sun glinting against it. He suddenly comes to realize that this isn't right; what was he doing pulling it out for her?

The way that greasy man looks at her makes him sick, like she is some piece of meat and he is a hungry beast.

A strong breeze starts to blow through the fortress; the wind whips her hair away from her face in an all too beautifully tragic way.

"Hana, please," Sakura cries again, and her voice is starting to go hoarse. "Please _, please_."

She looks over at her liege, her beautiful princess, and squeezes her eyes shut as she starts to cry too, though she is silent when the tears fall. She doesn't bother to wipe them away, and instead she reaches out with open palms and nimble fingers to accept the sword.

"What will she do?" He hears Kamui ask her brother, trying to keep her voice low so as not to interfere with the show.

Leo doesn't take his eyes off of Hana and the way she so eagerly awaits her death as he answers. "She'll take the sword and stab herself in the abdomen, slicing it open from the left to right, effectively disemboweling herself."

He watches as Kamui's eyes go wide, as she tightly wraps a hand around her brother's upper arm, causing him to break his stare from Hana.

"What? We can't let Sakura see that. That's too much to bear."

He makes a tisk noise with his tongue and shakes his head. "She needs witnesses of an honorable status to be here. She could always have a friend decapitate her at the crucial moment though, when she stabs herself."

He sees Kamui's hand grip the arm tighter, and Leo grimaces at the strength.

"We can't ask her friend to do that."

"Well she hasn't asked herself so I'm assuming she doesn't want him too," he replies, looking very closely at the false princess's face, like he is studying a book and the words are all upside down and backwards. "If that's the case, once she slices herself open, she'll take the sword out and stab it through her throat."

Iago finally stands before her, a look on his face that he cannot read, and Hana breaks her gaze from the man to look back at her liege and comrade one final time.

"Remember me always," she says, and that is when he finally lets out a sob. She looks at him, first with wide eyes, then with sad ones, as she sees the man who is practically perfect begin to cry.

His throat burns as he watches Iago hold the hilt of her sword out firmly towards her, to which she reaches for before hesitating, then finally saying: "May the stars look upon you."

He can't do anything but stare at her with such a lost look, before leaning over and telling his liege: "Lady Sakura, don't look."

She doesn't listen though.

Everything happens in slow motion as he watches her long fingers barely graze against the old and weathered Ito before, with the startling skill of an old swordsman, Iago swiftly yanks it back and whips the blade out towards her, and if he would've blinked he'd of missed it.

He watches with extreme horror as Iago plunges the sword through her, as he hears metal ripping into flesh, as he sees the crimson hues of war cover her body and come out her mouth. He watches with extreme horror as he lets out a cry, as Sakura lets out a scream, as she is denied her honor.

Her hands are still open, her eyes extremely wide, and she starts to choke on her own blood, coughing it up as the royal family looks on, as Sakura screams ad cries and yells. She reaches to grab the bare blade, but it only serves to lacerate her palms. He can no longer see as the tears finally fill his eyes fully, and he can no longer speak as he suddenly loses his voice at the sight of the horrific act.

Iago grins like an idiot and lets out a truly evil laugh as Kamui yells at him to stop, as she runs forward but then stops short as she watches him place a dirty foot on the samurai's shoulder, using it as support to twist, then pry, the sword out from her body.

He's decided that he truly _despises_ Nohrians.

Once Iago gets the sword loose, she falls backwards to the ground in the most undignified and not honorable way that she can; they wouldn't even give her that right. She lays there exposed and _dirty_ , she would truly be seen as a disgrace by anyone but them.

Iago flings her sword to the ground next to her, and she now clutches at her bleeding wound, gasping and choking and crying. He watches the way the blood leaves her a mess, the way it escapes from her as she tries to keep it all in.

She gurgles as the blood fills her throat and it splatters her face and the ground she lays on as she tries coughing it up. Her chest heaves hard but it only serves to speed up the process of pushing it all out. He thinks he's going to be sick.

"Iago," that tall and blonde man speaks up, the tone of his voice frightening. "We will tell Father what you've done."

Iago looks back at him with a sick smile. "I was just following the king's orders; have every last Hoshidan killed. If anyone is to be punished, it will be his sweet children for keeping those two alive."

The royal siblings don't say anything to that as Iago walks away and back to camp. He stares at her body, just another in the sea of slain Hoshidans, and the guard behind him raises him to his feet.

Kamui walks over to them, to Sakura, and the look on her face is one of extreme guilt and heartbreak.

"Sakura, I'm so sorry," she says, but the cherry blossom princess doesn't respond, only cries.

He decides to take it upon himself to speak on behalf of his liege. On behalf of her.

"You filthy Nohrian dogs," he spits, but Kamui only hangs her head in shame. "You're all monsters, none of you are human."

He feels his throat start to burn and his eyes start to water again as he glances over at her body. That pitiful, dying body.

"You monsters!" He yells again, his voice cracking on the second syllable. "Damn you all, damn you all."

He starts sobbing, he feels gross, but he doesn't care; he just wants to die.

"Damn you all," he repeats, and the Nohrians have nothing to say.

He and his liege are led away back to the Nohrians' camp. The trip is silent save for Sakura's cries.  He turns his head, shoves it to where he can see her one last time, and it is awful.

She lies there alone in the circle, Hoshidans on all sides, but she is the star of this gods awful show. He stares at her lifeless body, at the way it no longer moves and contorts in pain, and he lets out another sob for his fallen flower.

He thinks about all the things he should've said to her long ago, all the things he was going to say. Maybe, if he'd of said them to her when she doubted herself only moments ago, he could've stopped her. Or maybe, she would've done it anyways.

He can no longer feel the wound in his shoulder, only the pain in his heart.

The world was an awful place filled with awful things. She was pure, she was something good that lit up the dark world, but she too had to be extinguished.

He should've said something, he should've said something.

He should've said so much, but then again, there are some things better left unsaid.

**Author's Note:**

> The reason Leo and Azura know so much about what Hana's doing is because in one of Leo's supports he mentions that he's read many books from all over the world so I figured it wouldnt be that far fetched if he happened to come across a Hoshidan book about samurai or something; Azura knows so much because she grew up in Hoshido and had an actual samurai for a big brother. I spent an entire day extensively researching the bushido code and seppuku and the parts of a katana and somehow ended up watching several samurai movies. And even with all that research, I'm sure there are still some inaccurate parts such as me giving Hana the actions of a male samurai committing seppuku rather than the way a samurai's wife would.  
> Either way this was a fun fic to write and I hope you enjoyed it. Also this doesn't conflict with the flowers fall apart canon this is completely seperate.


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